the intercommunal net,
scaling safe communities
with shared resources &
democratic tools

Built on open software, Blacksky is part of a growing universe of open social media, which NRC is also experimenting with. Its operation can be compared to e-mail. Worldwide, people use different email servers (think: KPN, Ziggo, Gmail, Soverin, Proton). Still, mails arrive. That’s because those servers speak the same technical language, the protocol. That’s how it works with open socials.

Blacksky’s foundation is built on self-governance and self-determination. We took learnings from Black and Brown revolutionaries with our belief that everyone has the ability and the self-efficacy to do the things that are best for their community, but we also realize that that ability is something that is not seen as a right that everyone should be able to experience. Due to this, we sought out to create a solution, at least in the digital space, specifically for Blacksky.

The people on this stage are already showing us what different technological futures can look like: a social network built around Black community governance, civic technology designed for crisis response, tools for ocean and climate resilience, infrastructure shaped by communities rather than platforms, and research exposing where dominant systems fail. These are our pollinators; builders, researchers, and organizers testing alternatives in the real world and asking what it would take for them to become the norm rather than the exception.

“Elon buys the blue bird. He trashes the place. Rudy builds Blacksky. Communities call the shots. Wannabe kings don’t rule the internet. We all do.”

Mozilla Fellows build better because their work starts with a problem, not profit or an IPO.